


Invisible Strings

by Ackerhardt



Series: Inversion [1]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor/Vox is one sided, Angst, Aphobia, Cannibalism, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kind of..., Memory Alteration, Mind Control, Non-Consensual Drug Use, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Treachery, Why Did I Write This?, also inaccurate, assassinations, author regrets everything, if you like alastor don't read, mental manipulation, no happy ending sorry, shady medical procedures, sleeper agent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23236315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ackerhardt/pseuds/Ackerhardt
Summary: Vox is politically in a standstill with a new business group entering his marketing area. Velvet’s and Valentino’s hands are tied for the same reason, company politics. There was only one Overlord who didn’t have to worry about that.Realizing that, Vox sets out to try and wager some form of deal with said Overlord. But things take an unexpected darker twist, in favor of Vox. Oh how lucky he’d been, this should’ve never been allowed to happen.Alastor had let his guard down, now Vox in a turn of events has changed the deer demon into his own personal sleeper agent.
Relationships: Alastor & Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Niffty (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Rosie (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Vox (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor/Vox (Hazbin Hotel)
Series: Inversion [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782412
Comments: 35
Kudos: 130





	1. Niffty

**Author's Note:**

> Is this a crack fic? I don’t even know, it certainly sounds like one honestly.

_W-what’s..? Happening..?”_

_“Oh shit, he’s waking up, get the stuff!”_

Alastor rubbed at his head, his quality of sleep felt terrible, so did his head, it felt like it was full of white noise. In fact, it had felt terrible for the past month. Alastor just couldn’t figure out why, he knew he’d been dreaming lately, but he couldn’t remember the contents of any of them. Logically he’d considered that they were the cause of his recent troubles regarding his slumber, but without knowing what they were about, he couldn’t be sure. However, he hadn’t come up with any other explanations. The situation was more than a little infuriating to say the least. Well he’d have to figure it out later, he had to attend to business at the Hotel. He’d promised Charlie that he’d cook breakfast for all twelve of their patrons, including staff. Although Niffty had insisted on helping him with the workload. Alastor wasn’t going to deny her the chance, especially not considering he very much enjoyed cooking alongside the smaller demon. She had a very nice positive energy to her.

Keeping all that in mind, he still needed to get up from his bed. Nothing was going to happen if he didn’t actually get to after all. Once he got out of bed, he used his magic to neatly fold the covers back and then to change his attire to his normal clothing. It felt a bit off for some reason, so much so that he gave himself a once over in the mirror. Beyond appearing more torn at the hems than before, his choice of wear appeared to be fine. It was weird, usually this only happened after a smaller massacre of his. So Alastor chalked it up as him still being tired, he had just recently roused after all.

Ignoring the discomfort he was feeling, he attended to the rest of his appearance. Nothing short of immaculate would do, one had to keep up appearances. He made special care to avoid being rough with his ears, they’d been aching since the start of the month for no apparent reason, but he didn’t want to aggravate them further. He did smooth down his hair into the style he’d chosen a very long time ago.

Finishing, Alastor summoned his microphone, giving it an experimental test. His shadows hadn’t reported on anything unusual, anything unusual that he hadn’t noticed himself anyway. All was in working order, and Alastor headed for the kitchen to meet up with Niffty. Knowing her, she’d already be there, waiting for him to join her. If he was lucky enough, she would’ve made a batch of coffee too. She, like Rosie, knew how he liked his, the same way his mother had always taken it. His mother had always had good taste.

The hallways at the Hotel were much too long in his opinion, especially when one was in a hurry. Not that he was in a hurry very often, he prided himself on being punctual, not leaving things to the last second. Unlike a nine armed someone at the Hotel residency. Thankfully everyone else was also punctual in their work, even Husker surprisingly never showed up late for anything. It didn’t matter how much the feline had drunk the previous night, he was always on time.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee brought Alastor to the present. He spotted Niffty sitting beside the dining room table, two cups stood on top of it. Alastor felt his grin stretch wider, what a pleasant start to the morning.

“Good morning my little darling!” He slides into the seat opposite to her, taking the cup on his side of the table. She perks up, turning in her seat to face him.

“Good morning Alastor!” She responds back immediately. “Shall we make a traditional American breakfast?”

Alastor puts a finger to his chin humming in thought, the sound of it being distorted by his radio effect.

“Why not!” He finally gives her his answer, taking a long sip of his coffee afterwards. She stands up on her seat, leaning over the counter, already listing their possible choices. Alastor helps her narrow down the choices to bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast and waffles. Angel arrives, yawning loudly, his pet pig on a leash below him.

“Ah, Angel! Perfect timing!” Alastor stands up, giving the Spider a mischievous grin. Angel in turn gives him a confused look.

“You’ve brought us our bacon, and just when we needed it!” Alastor appears behind Angel, giving the pig an appraising look. A good half second later Angel has the pig nestled protectively in his arms, while giving Alastor a glare.

“Hands off NugNug!” Angel sounds offended that Alastor would even think of consuming the tiny pig. But then Angel leans into Alastor’s personal space, winking. “But you can touch me anywhere ya like, if ya catch my drift〜!”

“And now you’ve ruined it, as per usual.” Alastor uses his microphone to not so gently push Angel away from him. Alastor walks back to the dining room table, hands folded behind his back. Niffty had already started to gather most of the ingredients. So Alastor reached for the various pans they’d need to be using, and also made a waffle iron appear, it would make things a lot easier.

“Which do you want to make?” Niffty counts the ingredients before nodding to herself and turning to Alastor.

“I’ll take over the bacon and French toast.” He informs her, starting with the heat on the stove.

“Okay!” Niffty checks the waffle iron presumable for future use.

The two get a fast start on breakfast, both being proficient at what they did. Niffty did have an added bonus with her speed though, it was quite impressive to witness. As she finishes the waffles, placing them on the counter, a counter which now had a very famished looking Charlie behind. Niffty moves onto the scrambled eggs, as they were very quick to make.

“Hey Alastor, can I ask you a quick question?” She says while cracking an egg open.

“Do go on my dear.” Alastor starts with the toast.

“Where did you go last night?” She sounded genuinely curious. Alastor halts his movements, he hadn’t gone anywhere.

“I’m afraid you must’ve mistaken someone for me.” He tells her in full confidence.

“Oh really? It was dark and I couldn’t exactly see you.” She appears to agree with the answer given to her by Alastor. “Forget it then!” She starts humming to a tune that was vaguely familiar to Alastor.

It was all off putting, but regardless, Alastor ignored the weird feeling in his gut. Logic was much more reliable, right?


	2. Angel Dust

_ “Come on Al, just relax. Go back to sleep, everything’s fine.”  _

_ He couldn’t move, why couldn’t he move? Everything hurt and nothing was making sense. Tired...so tired... _

_ “That’s it...nothing bad is happening here...”  _

Even when Alastor took naps, he could not get away from the night terrors that had started consuming his everyday sleeping. Yet he still couldn’t recall a single one, what was wrong with him? They felt so...wrong, but how could he know that if he didn’t know what they were? This was starting get past ridiculous. He’d never had problems with this before, this was a terrible time to start. He had actual matters to attend to at the Hotel. 

Alastor turned on the radio in his room, needing some white noise while he would get to the bottom of this. His carefully constructed facade wasn’t going to fall because of this minor inconvenience. So far all he could remember was the extreme discomfort, and a feeling of familiarity. He felt like there was a reason he should’ve been able to remember his nightmares. He just couldn’t quite place his finger on the reason why. the further he thought about it, the more confusing it got. Why would he start thinking of TV’s? Surely he wasn’t being haunted by TV’s, or if he was, he would personally lobotomize himself, or maybe Vox if he felt like it. That would definitely get his mind off things, oh how fun that would be. 

He was getting off track again, what a nightmare this was turning out to be, ironically. This wasn’t going anywhere, the longer time went on, the less he knew. Besides, he was going start remembering things that hadn’t happened soon if he wasn’t careful. That was the last thing he needed at the moment. What he really needed was to let out some of his pent frustrations. 

That new coffee boy of Vox’s would do nicely, maybe he could squeeze some intel out of them if he was lucky. Alastor was feeling spiteful and a good lunch always did lift his mood. He sent his shadows to inspect the situation to see if he had an opening, as he did not feel like dealing with the annoying TV demon at the moment. 

While Alastor waited, he started singing along to the tunes coming from the radio. It was a calming practice that passed the time along quite nicely. The next song was one he’d heard a few times, but as he’d come to learn, it was a song 100 years past his lifetime. Right now though, that didn’t bother him. 

_“I’m a strange man.”_ Alastor began, the words seeming to echo. _“Like your angel.”_

_“I’m invisible.”_ The piano took a more somber tone. _“Like a monster.”_

_“But someday you’ll understand.”_ Alastor started absentmindedly tapping his fingers to the rhythm. _“The meaning of my life.”_

_“But someday you’ll understand.”_ The lyrics flowed smoothly. _“The meaning of these words.”_

_“I’m the speaker.”_ Alastor paused in between. _“Of your silence.”_

_“I’m the question now.”_ A weird sensation washed over him as he prepared to sing the next lyrics. _“To your answer.”_

Before he could think about it, or finish the song, his shadow comes back. It informs him that his lunch was out of Vox’s reach. Alastor grins widely at that, how perfect! Smoothing down his appearance, Alastor uses his shadow to appear where the unfortunate demon was. 

They were simply walking down a road when Alastor transports the demon into a more secluded alleyway. As much as loved a good public execution, Charlie couldn’t know of his endeavors. The otter demon looks very taken aback before meeting Alastor’s menacing stare. 

“Pardon my rude intrusion into your mundane evening.” Alastor starts, setting his microphone down impactfully. “I’m sure you weren’t too preoccupied.” 

“And what the fuck do you want from me?” The other demon asks confrontationally. Alastor couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the fowl language, demons working under Overlord always thought they were invincible. If only they knew how far from the truth that was. 

“Oh but you work for dear good old Vox.” Alastor appears behind the other, roughly grabbing the demon’s shoulders. “Don’t you?” 

“Yeah, so what..?” The demon seemed to be having second thoughts now, not that that would save him. 

“Splendid!” Alastor chuckles, tightening his hold. “Now here’s how this is going to go, you’re going to tell me what you can about your employer and I won’t eat you alive.” 

“H-hey, that’s not how this works.” The demon seems to look around for an escape. Alastor had to give some credit to the otter demon, not many had outright refused him. 

“I didn’t have a chance to have a proper lunch yet.” Alastor says, full well knowing how disturbing it sounded to others. He uses his shadowy appendages to further restrain the demon. “And my restraint is dwindling.” 

“Okay okay! Just don’t fuckin’ eat me Jesus Christ.” Alastor let’s go of the demon’s shoulders, dusting off his hands, although the demon still wasn’t going anywhere without his say so. “You promise not to?” 

“What I said earlier still applies.” Alastor’s eyes hold a vast amount of amusement. He was enjoying this very much, especially knowing how annoyed his rival would be. 

“Boss just got finished with some major project. I’ve no idea what it was, all I know is that he was really excited about it! Telling Velvet all about it.” The otter demon speaks quickly, still finding the Radio Demon’s presence uncomfortable. Alastor sets a finger against his chin thinking. “He said it was going to finally rid him of his rivals.” The demon finishes as Alastor narrows his eyes at the statement. What sort of trick did Vox have now? Regardless, it seemed this demon had outlived their usefulness to him, it was quite clear they didn’t know anything more. 

“Thank you for your time!” Alastor releases the demon, enjoying the relief they show. And as expected, he uses his appendages to stop the demon before they can leave. This time using them to suffocate them, and the demon looks terrified and confused. “Now now, you look confused. I said I wasn’t going to eat you alive, but nothing about eating you when you were dead.” 

A sickening crack and Alastor let’s the body drop, picking the demon apart. He consumes his chosen parts there, knowing Charlie could find out about his impulsive urge if he did it at the Hotel. Or at least if he took too much with him back to the Hotel, maybe if he just took an arm. That’s what he settles with when he finishes the rest, a glint of mania in his eyes. 

He moves back to the Hotel, finding himself in front of his room at the Hotel. Now he just had to consume the limb quickly before Charlie did a routine check. 

“Uhhh...What ya got there Smiles?” Angel interrupts, not hiding the very disturbed expression on his face. The spider seems to want to say something else before seemingly thinking better of it. 

“Your fate if you tell anyone of this.” Alastor tilts his head, a few voodoo symbols appearing around him. 

“Hahaha ha...ha...ha...yeah…” Angel folds a pair of his arms awkwardly, avoiding the intense gaze of Alastor. “Don’ worry, your secret’s safe with me, like your other one.” 

“My other one?” Alastor is quick to question, nothing coming to mind. 

“You think I didn’t see you at the Porn Studios a few days ago? Well I did!” Angel gains some of his more extravagant personality back, much to Alastor’s displeasure. “So even ya got needs huh?” 

“You’re mistaken, I’ve never been in that repugnant establishment in my afterlife. Never intend to either.” Alastor straightens his posture, adjusting his grip on the dismembered arm. 

“Wha- but I saw you..!” Angel argues, crossing both sets of his arms. “You lyin’ to me?” 

“I know where I have and haven’t been. What you saw was quite impossible.” Alastor looks Angel over. “Have you been misusing addictive substances again?” 

“I’ve been clean for a week.” Angel doesn’t uncross his arms and furrows his brows in confusion. “I’m positive I saw you, you’re pretty recognizable.” 

“I suggest glasses.” Alastor opens his door, hearing Vaggie coming up the stairs. “Now begone, I have matters to attend to.” Alastor thinks before deciding to use the disembodied arm to make a shooing motion, just to see the spider uncomfortable. Angel glances at Alastor and then at the limb, visibly shuddering. 

Alastor ignores the reaction and escapes into the safety of his room. But his mood is once again spoiled, why did people keep seeing him in places he wasn’t at? Better yet, why was there so much he didn’t know. Unknown night terrors, unknown project of Vox’s and supposed unknown sightings of him. This was starting to sound like too much coincidence, but until he was absolutely positive that there was fowl play, he wasn’t going to stress himself over it. Because did he truly have anything dire on his hands yet? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome back to the chronicles of sleep deprived author at 4AM trying to write something sane. 
> 
> Alastor just casually strolling inside the Hotel with someone else's arm. 
> 
> Angel: What you got there?
> 
> Alastor, holding the arm: A smoothie. 
> 
> I seriously don't know where the idea for this fic came from, certainly not from any logical part of my nonexistent brain cells.


	3. Rosie

“Alastor!”

Alastor feels himself being shaken into a rude awakening. He roughly grabs the arms of whoever had shook him awake, eyes focusing on the form of Rosie. At that, he slackens his grip and sits up properly on the sofa he was occupying. Taking a moment to mentally wake-up, Alastor collects himself and his thoughts. When had he fallen asleep? How long had he been asleep for? Alastor casts an inquisitive glance towards Rosie who had been waiting for him. 

“My apologies, however, you looked so incredibly fatigued when you came over. I dare not rouse you when you were sleeping so peacefully.” Rosie takes a seat on her armchair adjacent to him, smoothing down her dress. “Until now that is.” 

“For how long..?” Alastor looks to his shadow for confirmation, but even it looks to be in a daze, how peculiar. 

“Couldn’t have been longer than 30 minutes dear.” She responds, looking like she had a few questions of her own. “Is this the reason you look so dreadful? Night terrors of some sort?” 

Alastor thinks for a moment, trying to figure out how to properly articulate his experiences. It was exceedingly difficult when he himself hadn’t a clue. 

“I must confess that I am not entirely certain.” Alastor pauses, searching carefully for his next words. “I can’t seem to recall anything from my nightly disturbances save for the feeling of something being irreversibly... _ off _ .” 

“Off?” Rosie questions further, seemingly lost herself. Alastor sighs, leaning his elbows on his thighs, while lacing his fingers together. He did not like how on edge this situation was making him. Still, he could not just dismiss the matter entirely, but currently he had more important issues to be discussing with Rosie. Namely the alarming rate of which Vox’s adversaries, former adversaries now, had been disappearing. It’s why he’d consulted her in the first place. 

“I assume it will pass, now I’d like to shift back to the topic at hand.” Alastor scolded himself for the downright impatient and rude tone that he’d taken. 

“Why of course.” Rosie is quick on the uptake as per usual. “I shared some of my thoughts on the situation, I’d be curious to hear a few of yours, you’re the one in possible danger after all.” 

“I wouldn't go that far.” Alastor muses unconcerned. “I had a chat with one of Vox’s subordinates, and with a little  _ coaxing,  _ he explained that Vox had recently indulged in a new project. The results of it being what we’re seeing now.” 

“Nothing very useful yet. But do you not find the nature of these erasures eerily familiar?” Rosie takes on a serious tone. 

“Whatever could you mean?” Alastor turns to face her properly, curious. 

“Alastor, I’m saying these killings appear to bear your signature handiwork.” She responds, carrying an undertone of...suspicion? She wouldn’t dare suspect him would she? Alastor narrows his eyes. 

“I do **_not_** like your implication, _my dear_.” He takes great offense to the veiled accusation. He would never even remotely consider helping Vox with anything. What an outrageous concept! Making this accusation even more out of place! Had Rosie begin losing her touch? 

“Settle down will you, no need to be dramatic.” She huffs, amusement present. “I’m merely saying it is odd. Copycat killings? But I cannot place why someone would try to copy your methods.” She thinks aloud, prompting Alastor to ponder her point as well. 

“As soon as I find out  _ who  _ and  _ why _ , they’ll be wishing  _ they hadn’t _ .” He declares, still not having figured out either point. 

“I don’t doubt that, how do you intend to go about your investigation though?” She is quick to question him. 

“I suppose time will tell. Contesting Vox at a time like this is hardly an option.” Alastor summons his microphone, giving it an experimental spin while he thinks to himself. He’d have to exercise caution. Already he felt like someone was watching him, an unpleasant prickling of his skin. 

“Are you certain we have time to spare?” 

“Going by the sinners affected, we have time before it’s either of our turns, a few more names before. I’m positive I can figure out a countermeasure by that time.” Alastor halts his microphone mid spin, where did that--? 

“And how do you come by that? Is there a list or order of some kind?” Rosie appears as skeptical of his conclusion as he feels. It came out so naturally, but he couldn’t place where he could’ve seen or figured out such an order. Alastor knew Vox well, however unfortunate that was, but  _ not this well _ . 

“I’m...not quite sure.” Alastor hesitates, maybe he was being overzealous with trying to connect the recent happenings with each other. “Perhaps my mind is still muddled by my earlier slumber.” 

“Perhaps…” Rosie agrees halfheartedly. “A breath of fresh might do us both some good.” 

“Sounds delightful!” He is taken by the idea immediately. “No sense being cooped up here. Although I’m afraid I’ll be taking my leave during our outing.” 

“You do need the rest.” She chuckles, as she reaches over to fix his bowtie that was crooked. Alastor secretly rolls his eyes while waiting for her to finish. He couldn’t truly look that bad, he reasons. Upon her finishing he stands up stretching his back and straightening his coat while adjusting his monocle. 

“Shall we be off?” He holds out his hand for her to take, and she graciously accepts it. 

“There is one more point I’d like to discuss.” She says as Alastor opens the door for her. 

“And what might that be?” 

“While I did say that I recognized your style in the erasures, that does not apply to the latest one.” She says looking ahead, keeping his pace. He does not appear bothered by her observation. 

“Sounds like they aren’t nearly as good as I think they are.” Alastor’s grin sharpens as they leave the safety of her emporium. Most of the sinners on the streets make plenty of way for them, retreating into stores or houses. 

“That could be, but the contrast is almost too huge for that.” Rosie stands by her point. “While earlier cases have shown cannibalism and precise incisions or almost nothing at all. The last was a messy slash to the throat with a holy weapon with nothing missing.” 

“If they ran into trouble they could’ve reverted back to their own method of killing, not having time to copy mine.” Alastor counters, and the matter settles at that. 

Walking farther, they switch to lighter conversation. With Alastor asking about Rosie’s emporium and its business, and Rosie asking a multitude of questions about Charlie’s passion project. They share a few laughs about Charlie’s naive attitude and a few mishaps that happened at the Hotel. 

Their pleasant conversing is interrupted by Rosie noticing a sleek black limousine. They both recognized who the owner, or more like, owners were. Alastor internally hopes that none of them were anywhere near it, especially one. Yet, like a really bad joke, Vox steps out of it and takes a second to recognize them. 

“What a pleasant surprise Al!” Vox says, rather loudly with a wide grin. 

“A surprise sure, but a pleasant one? I think not.” Alastor says dryly, not stopping to chat. All the demons in sight have frozen in place, knowing the tension between these two Overlords. Rosie has a passive smile on her face as she watches the interaction, not appearing fazed in the slightest. 

“Aww, what’s wrong? Did you  _ wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? _ ” Vox leans against the car hood, a confident expression occupying his screen. 

“I’m afraid we have  _ real work to get to _ .” Rosie cuts in, sounding smooth and nonchalant. “You wouldn’t want to waste our time, would you? Not that you haven’t already, but certainly you wouldn’t waste  _ any more of it _ ?” 

“Of course not, what made you think that?” Vox looks less pleased now. 

“Splendid!” Rosie and Alastor move to walk past Vox without consideration. 

“ _ You really should watch yourself Rosie, deer can be fickle companions.”  _ Vox’s grin grows beyond the edges of his screens, cutting out the grin at the sides. He gets no response as the two continue on their merry way to wherever they were going. 

“What a pair of fuckin’ pricks.” Vox mutters as he heads to do his own work. 

Meanwhile Alastor escorts Rosie to the edge of her territory and there, bids her goodbye until they meet again. 

He wasn’t so sure he’d be able to get the sleep he needed, as everything he discussed with Rosie goes through his head. And Vox’s last comment begins to bother him, it seemed so purposeful or meaningful, but what could that possibly mean? All this weirdness paired together could not be a coincidence of any kind. Alastor had to admit, something was truly amiss, and he’d have to figure it out before it was too late. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took awhile to write, I'm sorry for the delay. Quarantine is terrible, it's really been cracking down on my writing motivation, which is why I'm grateful for everyone and anyone who bothers to read, leave kudos or comment. You all are amazing, and I thank you in advance.


	4. Husk

Alastor had to admit, he felt dreadful. The constant uncertainty paired with the glorious death of his sleep schedule was a force to be reckoned with. Filling out his duties at the Hotel was beginning to grate at his patience, and more often than not, he found himself making errors. Errors that he wouldn’t normally be making. 

He also wasn’t making any leeway whatsoever on his investigations. Worst of all, he wasn’t sure if he was actually making progress, and then forgetting, or if he just wasn’t making headway. Alastor could swear he’d learnt important information, but when he thought about it, he couldn’t recall anything. It was an extremely frustrating process, not to mention that it did not make sense. His memory had never failed him before, why now? 

“How long you going to stare at that bottle?” 

Alastor snaps his gaze up to that of Husk’s, eyes refocusing once more. 

“Ah, my apologies, I’ve much to think about.” Alastor admits. Husker hums noncommittally in response, not looking particularly interested in anything Alastor would have to say. And so Alastor returns to his thoughts. 

There was only one case of him learning something new that he could actually remember--or actually managed to find--whichever was the case here. What a mess...It wasn’t even useful information that the sinner gave him. 

Alastor had managed to corner another of Vox’s subordinates, much to his pleasure. Although, the sinner hadn’t looked too intimidated by him. They’d sounded amused by Alastor’s confusion. Remarking that it was too late and throwing in a few insults. Of course Alastor had disregarded it and killed them. Or at least he’s positive that he killed them. But that’s all he’d gotten on his own. He felt quite inadequate to be truly honest. No he didn’t. 

Alastor shakes his head, he needed to sleep, freshen his mind, do anything but this. 

Even Rosie had found something. Velvet had made a post into one those networks demons frequented nowadays. It was a peculiar post, and one that implied a fight. And Rosie had sent the message his way. It contained a short text, one credited to an Edgar Allen Poe. Alastor had had the pleasure of reading some of his works, but he certainly hadn’t expected to see any in this context. Vox and the rest of his allies hardly had any culture, so he felt his surprise was justified. However, the message seemed to imply further deaths to Vox’s adversaries, how peculiar that they’d make it so public. But it meant he’d have to hurry. Yet he couldn’t think coherently and too many things didn’t make sense. 

Finding himself much too distracted, Alastor watches the sinners around him insead. Not caring very much for what they did, just watching absentmindedly. Although he couldn’t say that he wasn’t hoping someone would do something stupid, a little entertainment wouldn’t hurt. 

Of course nothing did happen, just sinners talking bad about the Hotel, pretending to be smart by ‘using the Hotel for their own personal gain’, drinking, other gossip and sometimes actually pleasant small talk. It was all very boring and something Alastor would’ve never bothered with if he didn’t absolutely have to, but he felt no energy to do much else. 

“You going to just keep starin’ like some fucking creep now?” Alastor recognizes Husker’s annoyed tone and lifts his head from the counter with amusement. 

“A crude observation.” Alastor responds, not fully invested in the conversation. Despite that Husker scowls at him, seemingly not impressed. 

“So you weren’t?” Alastor chuckles at the leading question, shifting to get more comfortable, facing the cat demon. 

“Now now, I never denied your initial statement.” Alastor is quick to correct, ignoring the tiredness of his mind. He had appearances to keep after all. Alastor’s correction has the desired effect of riling up the already grumpy cat demon, it was just too easy most of the time. 

Behind him, Alastor can hear Charlie and Vaggie rounding up all the guests. Preparing to send them back to their rooms for the night, the Hotel had a curfew after all. A few annoyed huffs are heard along with some drunken slurring, but no incidents tonight. How boring, the one night a small scuffle would’ve been appreciated. Although he wasn’t so sure it would be appreciated if he himself was asked to deal with it. 

Focusing back on Husker, Alastor notices as Husker seems to recall something. Turning to glare at Alastor, an accusatory finger pointed directly at him. 

“You! When are you going to return my Holy knife?” Alastor is asked, confusing him greatly. Why would Alastor ever have needed a Holy knife, and why from Husker of all demons? Had Husker been drinking too much yet again? That really was the only logical explanation. 

“It seems you’ve had too much to drink my friend.” Alastor dismisses the question entirely. 

“No, I know you borrowed it.” Alastor is taken aback by the seriousness of the reply. 

“And why would I ever borrow such an item?” Alastor challenges, going through his memories. He couldn’t recall anything related to a Holy knife, to borrowing anything, hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time he had a proper conversation with the volatile feline. 

“It’s a good fucking question.” Husker agrees, tail swishing annoyedly. “You came in here at god knows what hour, practically demanding the thing. What did you need it that fucking badly for? What the hell was that important?” He keeps up the line of questioning, while Alastor keeps his silence, thinking over the words. There was no way he could just forget something like that. An imposter with his form? Who would dare? But then who could possibly copy his aura, his power signature enough to fool even Husker? 

“I’ll...keep an eye out for it.” Alastor eventually agrees, no longer interested in continuing their conversation. 

“You better, I want it back.” Alastor is given one last glare. 

“Hey Al!” Charlie calls over from the other side of the lobby. 

“Yes, my dear?” He appears behind her, smiling wider at the startled reaction from her. 

“I was just wondering if you could go get some glasses from the back. So many of them have been broken…” Charlie says, frustration slightly evident. 

“Hmm, I suppose so.” He agrees, albeit hesitantly. Making his way to the back, he turns on the radio, a jaunty jazz tune playing. 

The backroom is fairly close and Alastor takes no time in appearing there. Charlie probably only needed a fair amount of glasses, so he took a tray and placed a good amount on it, keeping it balanced. He didn’t want to break them, that would be an annoying mess to pick up after. 

Heading for the lobby, Alastor can still hear the jazz tune from the radio, humming along quietly. It made things more relaxing. 

He abruptly stops. 

Alastor doesn’t hear as the catchy jazz tune dissolves into a high pitched screech. Doesn’t see as everyone covers their ears in unison. Doesn’t feel as he drops the tray of glasses, all of them shattering on the floor. 

The sightings. 

The killings. 

The style. 

The knife. 

It was all wrong, a set of questions all pointing to one answer just out of his reach. Instead all he can think about is Vox, Vox Vox Vox--

Hey Al, I need you to come over here.

And so Alastor disappears, leaving behind a very confused and partially concerned Hotel staff. ¨

“What the fuck?” Angel and Husk ask rhetorically in unison. 

“I-I don’t know.” Charlie admits, still concerned. They’d never seen him do anything like this. Something must’ve been terribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing has ever caused me as much stress in writing as this fic. I don't know why. So I'm sory for the delay, I've just been struggling to write this. But at least I finished both chapters, so the full fic is out now, for better or worse.   
> I probably gotta apologize for the quality as well, and for the plot. It's just...yeah...


	5. Vox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, this is going south fast--
> 
> REEEEE--

“Oh, there you are! You’re surprisingly fast when you want to be.” Vox greets Alastor casually, as if everything was normal. 

Alastor takes a moment to realize that he hasn’t come here because he’d wanted to. Almost as if something had told him to. Brushing past it, Alastor prepares to make Vox talk, he wanted answers. Vox takes note of this, calmly sitting on a barstool. 

“Yeah...no. Here’s how this is going to go. You—“ Vox points to Alastor. “—Are you going to stand there nicely and not say a word. Capiche? Great!” 

Despite wanting to fervently disagree, Alastor says nothing, making no further movements. He just couldn’t. Vox watches with utter glee, observing him carefully. It made no sense, what was wrong? It had something to do with Vox, but what?

“You’re quite right, it has everything to do with me.” Vox continues observing him. “To put it real simple, you’re fucked.” 

Alastor, who was still very in control of his expressions, gives him a disbelieving one. Vox does an animated roll of his eyes, the whole action looking weird and off putting. 

“You just love to deny things that are obviously true.” Vox sounds exasperated. “You think very highly of yourself, so of course you do! Decided that you’re better than the rest of us too, haven’t you?” 

Alastor shifts his eyes to the clock on the wall that resides behind Vox. The TV demon follows his gaze and upon seeing the clock, frowns deeply. 

“Well here’s a newsflash for you, you’re not.” Vox’s chipper mood returns at the prospect of insulting Alastor. “Our last meet-up really proves my point.”

The meeting with Vox that Alastor had had with him. Alastor hadn’t known Vox was the one who was supposed to meet him there. He’d gone unprepared for Vox, and after that he wasn’t sure what happened. But it was wrong—he—was wrong. Whatever happened was not a good thing, and was tied to all this. 

“Yes! It began with that meeting really. Originally I was going to try and strike a bargain with you actually. A deal if you may.” Vox pauses, clearly reminiscing. “I certainly hadn't expected you to arrive so weak...and well helpless!” Vox laughs a bit. “But I’m not complaining, as you so graciously offered yourself to me, I had one of the best ideas!”

Vox hopped from the stool, moving right in front of Alastor, close enough that Alastor felt uncomfortable. Probably on purpose. 

“You don’t know what happened, do you Al? I’ll tell you why. You see, I’ve made you forget. You’re a lot easier to handle when you think everything is fine, and you provide excellent espionage too, a pleasant surprise really.” Vox reaches a claw to touch Alastor’s ear, but the latter pins them against his head. Not at all liking what was coming out of his rivals mouth. It all sounded so absurd. 

“You’ve actually been coming here a lot, for our little sessions. Every few weeks, and you even got caught by Angel Dust once. He confronted you about it too, but you didn’t believe him.” Vox chuckles. “What you don’t realize is that during those weeks, I’ve been slowly chipping away at your psyche. Breaking and reshaping your mind essentially!” 

Alastor feels like he was punched in the gut. The feeling of wrongness hitting him full force. With his whole being enveloped in a feeling of utter horror, at the mere implication. What was this all supposed to mean?! It just couldn’t be the truth, could it? Alastor doesn’t bother hiding the shock on his features. Vox takes a moment to admire the expression, his giddiness increasing. 

“Not so smug now, are you?” Vox reaches to strike the base of Alastor’s ear, knowing how it would irk the deer demon. “All those killings—the ones you talked about with Rosie—who so cleverly noted, that were your style. And I think you know why now.” Vox gets the absolute pleasure of watching realization dawn on Alastor. “I’ve got to say, despite you being quite Inept in a multitude of things, you’ve got a certain knack for killing that even I can appreciate. It’s been a great help with ridding myself of a few unsavory sinners, thank you for that.” Vox feigns a pensive look, while bringing his arms back to his side. 

“That’s right! Who’s next on my list, you may ask. Oh dear, it seems Rosie is occupying that spot!” Vox laughs for a longer time, endlessly amused. 

Alastor’s eyes widened, he would never. He wouldn’t let himself do it. It wouldn’t be fair, she’d have no idea. She’d been his ally for so long, only to be betrayed? He had standards, to resort to something so cowardly...Of course Vox would. But Alastor wouldn’t do it right? 

“You honestly think you have a say in what you do anymore? I’m afraid you don’t.” Vox takes an exaggerated step back, and then in a silent command, gestures Alastor to come over to him. Without hesitance Alastor complies, now once again standing uncomfortably close to his rival. “If I tell you to erase her, you will do it.” Vox states, leaving no room for argument. 

“But I can be merciful. Listen here, I’ll spare her from you. if and only if you beg me not to do it.” Vox crosses his arms looking expectant. Alastor is mortified by the thought, beg? His rival? He wouldn’t have been caught dead doing that. Just the thought was making him ill. He wouldn’t ever be able to live past the shame, the humiliation. 

“Clock’s ticking, it’s the only chance I’ll give you. If you don’t take it, I’ll make you do it right after this session. I can even make you enjoy it! Doesn’t that sound like fun?” Vox prods, it being clear what he wanted. Alastor just couldn’t take the chance. 

“...please...Vox, I...beg of you, don’t make me kill Rosie...” Alastor’s voice sounds hoarse to his own ears, but he didn’t understand why. More importantly he looks away in shame, his ears dropping down further. Vox on the other hand looks ecstatic, with little sparks running through his arms and legs. It stops though as Vox cups Alastor’s cheeks and looms over him. Eyes trailing over Alastor’s strained smile, dejected posture and non confrontational expression. 

“You’re quite beautiful like this.” Vox comments shamelessly, grin growing. “I can’t wait to see more of this side of you.” Alastor narrows his eyes in response, and Vox lets him go. 

“But about Rosie, I’ll think about it for now.” Vox says without much care. It was better than Alastor had hoped, but still not a chance he wanted to take. If only he could even try to get his body to move away. Warn someone, anyone. 

“Anyways, about today’s session! You’ll be glad to hear it’s the last one.” Vox continues his monologue once again. “But it also means that after this, all the changes will be permanent. Great news for me, not so much for you.” 

No! This could not be permanent. Trapped in his own mind with no way out? There’s not a lot of things Alastor imagined could be worse. There had to be some way of reversing all this, all this madness. Alastor didn’t even want to consider the possibility that there was no reversal. That would be too much. 

“This has got to be the most fun I’ve had in forever! All this? It’s got to be one of your worst nightmares. I mean, I’ve practically ruined your whole afterlife!!” Vox sounds every bit as amused as he said he was. 

“It’s not very surprising though, it was always going to end like this.” Vox says his statement as if it were fact. Momentarily not feeling angry, Alastor casts his gaze to the floor. How could things have gone so wrong? How was he going to fix it? Could he even? Yes he could, Alastor would fix this. Whatever that took. 

“Hey! Look on the bright side.” Vox says cruelly as he takes ahold of Alastor’s chin, forcing their faces to meet. “At least this way you’ll actually be useful to me, like you’ve always meant to be.” 

Alastor says nothing, being unable to say anything. Still, despite everything, he feels an undeniable rage at the statement. Did Vox really think that? Alastor feels his hatred for his rival increase exponentially, but he cant help the dread that settles in him as well. Even now, He couldn’t get his body to listen to him and that alone terrified him.

Alastor’s thoughts are interrupted as Vox shakes his head dramatically. 

“Even while in this situation you hold such a low opinion of me, how typical.” Vox says with a low sigh. “But you know, after this, I’ll be able to change that as well! Won’t that be great?” Vox pauses, thinking for a minute, before glancing at Alastor’s lower regions. “Maybe I can change a few preferences of yours as well while I’m at it, help us both feel good~!”

Alastor’s stomach drops further at this. Every word from his rival made the situation worse. Change his opinion, better yet, his preferences? He’d have no way of knowing, no way to combat against it. Nonononono—this couldn’t be happening—Alastor stops himself from going into full blown panic. 

A message from Vox’s phone has the TV demon grinning like a madman. Letting of Alastor’s chin, he takes a hold of the deer demon’s arm. 

“Welp, time to make all of this permanent.” He pats Alastor’s head a few times pointedly, before roughly pulling Alastor along with him. Some part of Alastor tells him to follow Vox without complaint, prompting his body to do the same. Even if every other aspect of himself was screaming at him to turn back somehow. 

“Heya Doc, got out patient right here.” Vox pulls Alastor further into the room. It was filled with various equipment that Alastor refused to think about. Vox continues talking with the other demon, but Alastor doesn’t listen to any of it. He’s too focused on pushing down the panic he was feeling. 

The true horror of the situation was really starting to settle in as he stared emptily at the room before him. All forms of memories popping up to the surface. The intense physical pain, the splitting headache, the sheer panic, the feeling of being violated and the feeling of being trapped all hitting him at the same time. However the worst was the uncertainty of the future. Would he remember any of this? What would Vox make him do? Would he be himself after this? He didn’t want this. Please...anything but this. Alastor misses the look of pity and sympathy he gets from Vox. Alastor feels desperate, calling for his mother, he feels scared. 

“Aww, don’t cry Al.” Vox wipes at Alastor’s cheeks, speaking softly. “Now lets get you strapped in, shall we?” Vox guides Alastor into place, ignoring the panicked emotions from the deer demon, and restrains him fully. 

“And don’t worry too much Al, It will all be over soon.” Vox tries to sound comforting as he preps the IV. 

The statement brings Alastor no comfort, as the full reality of the situation leaves him devastated and broken. 

\--

It was insane, it had taken Alastor a whole few weeks before he could explain to everyone his few week absence, and his reaction in the lobby! He’d simply been ill, was that so hard to believe? Charlie and Vaggie seemed only mildly skeptical, but Husker and Niffty would not believe him at all! It was downright ridiculous, he had no reason to lie, as nothing was wrong. But then why did he feel like he was forgetting something important? Like something about this situation was very very wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is only angst in this house. Also no proofreading in this house.  
> I haven't slept I'm not coherent, I'm so sorry to everyone.
> 
> Check out this great [Fanart!](https://twitter.com/_CharlieTown_/status/1265952964805398529/photo/1)  
> It's really amazing!
> 
> More incredibly amazing [Fanart!](https://schadenfredde.tumblr.com/post/635160591296757760/made-fanart-for-a-messed-up-fic-on-ao3-where-vox)  
> Now I've been inspired to do my own art for this fic by all of you amazing people out there!!!!  
> [Art.](https://www.instagram.com/p/CBENPc3FLvg/?igshid=8rtpy6pbc22y)  
> Though I'm no artist.


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